the_usual_suspect
A rejoint le mai 2002
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Note de the_usual_suspect
When suicidal manic depressive drug users make films they turn out like this. Tarnation exists in two halves: the first a psychedelic acid trip in which images of director/producer/editor Jonathan Caouette and his brain damaged mother Renee spin across the screen, the camera shooting in an and out of blurry Photoshop molested photographs and film stills; the second half an attempted study into what perversions occurred in his mother's life to make her the woman she had become in the late nineties. It takes Caouette a full seventy minutes to begin interviewing his subjects, and even after doing so, nothing is uncovered. Whilst Capturing The Friedmans gave the audience all sides of the sordid affair it documents, Tarnation gives none. The idea that a know nothing has picked up a camera and started shooting is challenged only by the exciting and trippy montages that shows Caouette taking full advantage of the iMovie software he used to edit this tour-de-farce.
Tarnation begins and ends in the new millennium, but the bulk of the film is spent hurtling through thirty years of Jonathan Caouette's twisted and abused life. Our subject is quick to tell us how terribly he was abused and then proceeds to present us with remorselessly long one takes of his eleven year old self dressed up as a woman. You can imagine Caouette sitting at his computer, drifting in a world of nostalgia as he relives his life. Unfortunately, he's decided to show us this world, trying in vein to shock us with shots of him vomiting and bleeding to compensate for the lack of any genuinely shocking footage from his family life.
Certainly, he isn't making a fuss over nothing - his life has been a difficult and troubled one undoubtedly. But Caouette ceases to comprehend what is good movie making. He can throw together a visually electrifying and unnerving montage but can't handle psychological investigation, which is really what this film aims to undertake. Interviews are left unfinished, interviewees questioned hardly at all, and most of the time is spent with the family members whilst they manage to do things that tell us nothing about who they are. The only development that occurs in this film is that of Caouette himself, and this is bias to an unparallelled extent. Caouette sees himself (troubled but functioning normally) very differently from how an observant, skilled documentary film maker would and thus, the audience gains very little from the experience of watching Tarnation, and believe me, it is an experience.
Nonetheless, Tarnation is a step forward of a Blair Witch calibre, showing budding film makers that they too can make it. It is disappointing that one of them didn't make it ahead of Caouette, who's only talent is pointing and showing and editing music video montages. Most of the story is told in title cards meaning there is minimal documenting in this documentary. The only thing that is lacking more so than a conceivable plot is the investigation and analysis most other film's in the genre present. Undeniably engrossing, but substantially superficial.
Rating:2/5
By Joshua Morrall
Tarnation begins and ends in the new millennium, but the bulk of the film is spent hurtling through thirty years of Jonathan Caouette's twisted and abused life. Our subject is quick to tell us how terribly he was abused and then proceeds to present us with remorselessly long one takes of his eleven year old self dressed up as a woman. You can imagine Caouette sitting at his computer, drifting in a world of nostalgia as he relives his life. Unfortunately, he's decided to show us this world, trying in vein to shock us with shots of him vomiting and bleeding to compensate for the lack of any genuinely shocking footage from his family life.
Certainly, he isn't making a fuss over nothing - his life has been a difficult and troubled one undoubtedly. But Caouette ceases to comprehend what is good movie making. He can throw together a visually electrifying and unnerving montage but can't handle psychological investigation, which is really what this film aims to undertake. Interviews are left unfinished, interviewees questioned hardly at all, and most of the time is spent with the family members whilst they manage to do things that tell us nothing about who they are. The only development that occurs in this film is that of Caouette himself, and this is bias to an unparallelled extent. Caouette sees himself (troubled but functioning normally) very differently from how an observant, skilled documentary film maker would and thus, the audience gains very little from the experience of watching Tarnation, and believe me, it is an experience.
Nonetheless, Tarnation is a step forward of a Blair Witch calibre, showing budding film makers that they too can make it. It is disappointing that one of them didn't make it ahead of Caouette, who's only talent is pointing and showing and editing music video montages. Most of the story is told in title cards meaning there is minimal documenting in this documentary. The only thing that is lacking more so than a conceivable plot is the investigation and analysis most other film's in the genre present. Undeniably engrossing, but substantially superficial.
Rating:2/5
By Joshua Morrall
From the same school of plot development that Dangerous Minds attended, Coach Carter tells the story of the Richmond basketball team who learn that 'student' comes first in 'student athlete'. Cliché philosophy and lines such as "I met you as boys and now you're men" are given pride of place is this film, but for entertainment value and moral fortitude, you can't go far wrong with this effort from the director of Save the Last Dance.
The problem with the film as a media text is that it does not stand up to deconstruction. Behind the camera is a director who has no distinctive style. The action packed basketball scenes spice up this drama but never excel beyond music video quality, which is not an insult. The editing is snappy and mixed with the basketball beat of hip hop, the energy of the matches being truly communicated, but no effort is made to do something new with the camera angles. The way to enjoy this film is not to look beneath the surface, instead just allowing yourself to be carried away by the innocent excitement of simplicity.
Coach Carter was always going to need a strong lead to gain the substance that is has done. The no nonsense and iron willed demeanour that Samuel L. Jackson brings to the role makes him ideal for putting across the image of a man who can hold court in front of these hard life ghetto teens. What Jackson also brings is an amusing aggressive streak that make the audience glad they are not in the gym with this psycho who, despite pounding his players with endless 'submissions', still locks the gym when their grades don't come through.
Carter is a difficult character to understand. He seems ready to refuse entry to hard nut bad boy Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez), but caves in when Junior Battle (Nana Gbewonyo) turns up at his shop with his mother and begs forgiveness. As the film progresses however, we learn that Carter is doing everything he can to get his players into college and gain a life worth living, presumably to become what Carter himself has.
The players Carter strives to impact upon succumb easily to Carter's will. Occasional outbursts punctuate what is mostly a submissive relationship between coach and team and director Thomas Carter seems focused on delivering a realistic ensemble rather than the typical teen comedy entourage of weird and outrageous characters. It is a little unnerving being thrown into a gym with an unbreakable coach and a group of muscular teenagers who need to work to get average grades and can't roll off witty one-liners like the teenagers in other films in the genre. This decision to communicate realism is brave, but gives the film an enhanced depth that makes the lesson learned at the end more heart warming and honest. The ending is one of the film's three pointers, going against not only the conventions of the genre, but of Hollywood.
What lacks is subplot development. Timo Cruz's drug running is given screen time between matches but ends abruptly. Cruz shoots from being a hard case to being a shivering wreck on Carter's doorstep, in need of a strong father figure which I suppose we are to assume Cruz does not have. A little background here would not have been amiss. Cruz's doorstep tears also bring to attention the relationship between Carter and his son Damien (Robert Ri'chard), which appears very son-and-sir in nature. There is a hint of tension beneath the surface that we glimpse at when Damien arrives late at practise, and there may also have been an undertone of jealousy when Carter hugs Cruz, but this is not elaborated upon and there is a slight emptiness in their bond.
However, Coach Carter remains entertaining throughout. Realism and drama team-up to hit home hard the lessons that the team learn. Their struggle to overcome the stigma of their stereotypes is captured patiently, yet there is never a dull moment. Samuel L. Jackson brings a mountainous presence to his role that allows the audience to feel the film's extremes of pride and disappointment to a great extent. Involving emotionally and arresting dramatically, but superficial textually (although points awarded for fearlessness in parts of the subject matter).
Rating: 3/5 By Joshua Morrall
The problem with the film as a media text is that it does not stand up to deconstruction. Behind the camera is a director who has no distinctive style. The action packed basketball scenes spice up this drama but never excel beyond music video quality, which is not an insult. The editing is snappy and mixed with the basketball beat of hip hop, the energy of the matches being truly communicated, but no effort is made to do something new with the camera angles. The way to enjoy this film is not to look beneath the surface, instead just allowing yourself to be carried away by the innocent excitement of simplicity.
Coach Carter was always going to need a strong lead to gain the substance that is has done. The no nonsense and iron willed demeanour that Samuel L. Jackson brings to the role makes him ideal for putting across the image of a man who can hold court in front of these hard life ghetto teens. What Jackson also brings is an amusing aggressive streak that make the audience glad they are not in the gym with this psycho who, despite pounding his players with endless 'submissions', still locks the gym when their grades don't come through.
Carter is a difficult character to understand. He seems ready to refuse entry to hard nut bad boy Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez), but caves in when Junior Battle (Nana Gbewonyo) turns up at his shop with his mother and begs forgiveness. As the film progresses however, we learn that Carter is doing everything he can to get his players into college and gain a life worth living, presumably to become what Carter himself has.
The players Carter strives to impact upon succumb easily to Carter's will. Occasional outbursts punctuate what is mostly a submissive relationship between coach and team and director Thomas Carter seems focused on delivering a realistic ensemble rather than the typical teen comedy entourage of weird and outrageous characters. It is a little unnerving being thrown into a gym with an unbreakable coach and a group of muscular teenagers who need to work to get average grades and can't roll off witty one-liners like the teenagers in other films in the genre. This decision to communicate realism is brave, but gives the film an enhanced depth that makes the lesson learned at the end more heart warming and honest. The ending is one of the film's three pointers, going against not only the conventions of the genre, but of Hollywood.
What lacks is subplot development. Timo Cruz's drug running is given screen time between matches but ends abruptly. Cruz shoots from being a hard case to being a shivering wreck on Carter's doorstep, in need of a strong father figure which I suppose we are to assume Cruz does not have. A little background here would not have been amiss. Cruz's doorstep tears also bring to attention the relationship between Carter and his son Damien (Robert Ri'chard), which appears very son-and-sir in nature. There is a hint of tension beneath the surface that we glimpse at when Damien arrives late at practise, and there may also have been an undertone of jealousy when Carter hugs Cruz, but this is not elaborated upon and there is a slight emptiness in their bond.
However, Coach Carter remains entertaining throughout. Realism and drama team-up to hit home hard the lessons that the team learn. Their struggle to overcome the stigma of their stereotypes is captured patiently, yet there is never a dull moment. Samuel L. Jackson brings a mountainous presence to his role that allows the audience to feel the film's extremes of pride and disappointment to a great extent. Involving emotionally and arresting dramatically, but superficial textually (although points awarded for fearlessness in parts of the subject matter).
Rating: 3/5 By Joshua Morrall
Get Shorty had all the cool, humour and quality that made Ocean's Eleven a success. Be Cool comes up short on all counts. F. Gary Gray continues his streak of poor films with this over long, under funny sequel.
The number of stars on offer is impressive and there is a rich underbelly of character connotation (The Rock's eyebrow, Travolta dancing) to this otherwise superficial film, enhanced by the cameos from music industry notables such as Fred Durst. Music names and faces are also given pride of place in the story line, Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler spends more time on screen than is bearable aesthetically, and André 3000 gives a mildly entertaining performance as Dabu, a trigger-happy member of the WMDs. The range of characters results in a number of subplots that interweave to create a long and tangled story arc. The length of the cast list also prevents Be Cool from containing much character development, and thus we are presented with an array of characters whom we struggle to sympathise with.
John Travolta enters the role of Chili Palmer with ease, rehashing the same attitude from the first film. His co-stars are lacking considerably in the style and cool that the players in Get Shorty exuded continually, Uma Thurman being a miserable replacement for the sexy Rene Russo.
Replacement is a key word in terms of characters in Be Cool. The story is an exact replica of the first film, with new actors in what are basically the same roles (Gray even delivers the same scenes to us: Chili in bed with a woman as someone waits downstairs, getting his attention by turning on the stereo instead of the television as in the first). The Rock plays the cuddly bodyguard that James Gandolfini made his own, and does a great job playing against type - delivering most of the film's humorous moments ("Scorchin'!" and the Bring It On monologue). Vince Vaughn plays the vastly irritating 'badass' with cash who's just looking for his name on the credits, ala Delroy Lindo as Bo Welch.
This is a simple good verses bad tale, in which the 'heroes' never come across as being the underdogs, despite the entourage following behind Sin LaSalle (Cedric The Entertainer). Chili Palmer's constant presentation of being cool results in the audience's unflinching confidence that he'll come out of this alive, and Edie's (Uma Thurman) complete lack of resistance to him means we know he'll get the girl, which we weren't too sure of in the first. The result of this is a supreme lack of any tension whatsoever, which elongates this already lengthy film, causing the self conscience John and Uma dance sequence to drag on relentlessly.
The comedy in this comedy is reliant solely on racial stereotypes. Everyone knows that all black people carry guns and wear their trousers around their knees and everyone knows that Russians hate black people just a touch more than everyone else. And of course the music industry (the same industry in which Pete Waterman is a player) is run by old gangsters like Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) who put out hits on people if they break contract. Be Cool needs to get real. F Gary Gray is out of his depth once again, getting lost in his numerous plot lines and depicting his story with the sad, empty philosophy that if he shoots a character from many different angles, it will make his film entertaining to watch. His efforts should have been directed more towards script rewrites and meaningful story boarding. The Rock brings some entertainment to the proceedings, the Aerosmith concert footage is under edited but electrifying nonetheless, and the final redeeming feature is the way this sequel makes Get Shorty look like a modern masterpiece. Be Cool and avoid this film.
Rating: 2/5 By Joshua Morrall
The number of stars on offer is impressive and there is a rich underbelly of character connotation (The Rock's eyebrow, Travolta dancing) to this otherwise superficial film, enhanced by the cameos from music industry notables such as Fred Durst. Music names and faces are also given pride of place in the story line, Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler spends more time on screen than is bearable aesthetically, and André 3000 gives a mildly entertaining performance as Dabu, a trigger-happy member of the WMDs. The range of characters results in a number of subplots that interweave to create a long and tangled story arc. The length of the cast list also prevents Be Cool from containing much character development, and thus we are presented with an array of characters whom we struggle to sympathise with.
John Travolta enters the role of Chili Palmer with ease, rehashing the same attitude from the first film. His co-stars are lacking considerably in the style and cool that the players in Get Shorty exuded continually, Uma Thurman being a miserable replacement for the sexy Rene Russo.
Replacement is a key word in terms of characters in Be Cool. The story is an exact replica of the first film, with new actors in what are basically the same roles (Gray even delivers the same scenes to us: Chili in bed with a woman as someone waits downstairs, getting his attention by turning on the stereo instead of the television as in the first). The Rock plays the cuddly bodyguard that James Gandolfini made his own, and does a great job playing against type - delivering most of the film's humorous moments ("Scorchin'!" and the Bring It On monologue). Vince Vaughn plays the vastly irritating 'badass' with cash who's just looking for his name on the credits, ala Delroy Lindo as Bo Welch.
This is a simple good verses bad tale, in which the 'heroes' never come across as being the underdogs, despite the entourage following behind Sin LaSalle (Cedric The Entertainer). Chili Palmer's constant presentation of being cool results in the audience's unflinching confidence that he'll come out of this alive, and Edie's (Uma Thurman) complete lack of resistance to him means we know he'll get the girl, which we weren't too sure of in the first. The result of this is a supreme lack of any tension whatsoever, which elongates this already lengthy film, causing the self conscience John and Uma dance sequence to drag on relentlessly.
The comedy in this comedy is reliant solely on racial stereotypes. Everyone knows that all black people carry guns and wear their trousers around their knees and everyone knows that Russians hate black people just a touch more than everyone else. And of course the music industry (the same industry in which Pete Waterman is a player) is run by old gangsters like Nick Carr (Harvey Keitel) who put out hits on people if they break contract. Be Cool needs to get real. F Gary Gray is out of his depth once again, getting lost in his numerous plot lines and depicting his story with the sad, empty philosophy that if he shoots a character from many different angles, it will make his film entertaining to watch. His efforts should have been directed more towards script rewrites and meaningful story boarding. The Rock brings some entertainment to the proceedings, the Aerosmith concert footage is under edited but electrifying nonetheless, and the final redeeming feature is the way this sequel makes Get Shorty look like a modern masterpiece. Be Cool and avoid this film.
Rating: 2/5 By Joshua Morrall